love, mercy joy

I’m convinced self-awareness is maybe the single most important gift you can give to those you love, so here are some goofy pics to help you visualize it 😆 in simple terms, self-awareness is understanding at a core level why you do, say, think, act how you do. it helps you to recognize good things to be grateful for, and adjust things that you don't like, or that don't make sense. which conclusively helps every aspect of life. 'Don’t expect anyone else to fully understand both the bitterness and the joys of all you experience in your life.' Prov. 14:10 TPT I am so passionate about people realizing how important this is, I would slap everyone I see if I thought it would help. no seriously. if you understand others with 150% accuracy but have no self-awareness, your entire life is sabotaged. I see it literally every day. people "feel" because of things that happen surrounding them, and instead of looking internally, they only look externally to see what affecte...

The mind holds the most incredible power. I love how many resources there are right now about how to train your mind. Mental discipline can shape your entire destiny. Many of the most impactful people of all time were masters of this practice. My favorite cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf, explains in the simplest terms how you can rewire your brain to (my words) essentially heal yourself, and to become anything and anyone that you want to be. But if you don’t know your spiritual identity, then you’ll become engaged in a vicious and never-ending mental cycle. Anyone who’s done any personal development knows exactly what I’m talking about. You can be unbeatable for a day, a week, or a season, but a crash always comes. I’ve seen it over and over. In fact, I've never not seen it in anyone who didn't know their spiritual identity. What am I even talking about with the spiritual identity thing? It's pretty simple. If you can unequivocally know who you are on a spiritua...

subjective truths are not trustworthy. that's why every healthy person, as they grow, is forced to question everything they were ever "taught." we have to determine what the truth is for ourselves. i did not say, 'we have to determine our  truth.' that is one of the most unstable concepts that was ever created. there is an absolute truth about every question in life and our souls will find no rest until they discover it. the proof is in the restless searching in the core of any person who subscribes to any subjective worldview. so here is something to consider. "blood is thicker than water" is a super common quote that is used to emphasize family loyalty over everything. that is a theme for life in a lot of families and communities and cultures. i actually love it. my family are some of the coolest people i know (and isn't my little sister adorable 😍), but we never emphasized loyalty to each other over anything else. my parents simply taught us to t...

my life has consisted of intense pressure and insane goals for as long as I can remember. in january, for the first time in over 10 years, I gave myself permission to rest. I mean really rest. my body, my spirit, and my mind. I hate the culture of "self care," I think it's mostly wildly selfish and an excuse to disregard others and cancel anything you don't agree with. but I wholly support the premise...you can't pour from an empty cup and all that. so I set out to optimize me, so that I can do what I do best, better -- help others become fully themselves. it was cool for a while, beautiful in fact. one of the most incredible seasons of my entire life. staying in the most peaceful location, surrounded and smothered by a community that loves and accepts me completely. feeding my mind and spirit with books and podcasts, working out, eating clean, enjoying nature. until I started to feel nagging feelings and doubts about my lack of "accomplishing." my perso...